Originally Posted by
jimmuller
...Eyeballing a bearing held up to a cone shows pretty clearly that the ball conventionally has a smaller radius. If it had a larger radius it would contact the race or cone in two tracks out along the edges. That might in fact add some stability but maybe there is some reason it isn't commonly done, like higher costs per benefit. It would require two machined radii on that surface...
Most cartridge bearings are four point bearings. Also, three and four point bearings were used in the bicycle industry in the late 1890s. The marketing hype was typically focused on the lower loading and superior longevity. I guess that may have been a big deal at the time, with lower technology bearings and dirt dirt roads. Regardless, here is an advertisement for the E &D () four point hubs. You can't see the construction very well, so I've included the patent, which depicts a four point bottom bracket. The big drawback is the more complex, two part cup. It would have been difficult to install the bearings and the design totally prevents the use of caged bearings, which were a huge factor in reducing the labour costs of hub and bottom bracket assembly.
Edit: The Dodge name refers the Dodge brothers of automobile fame. Prior to venturing into cars, they worked for Canadian Typograph manufacturer Evans, who went into the bicycle business with them, after Horace Dodge invented the four point bicycle bearing.